Saturday, November 21, 2015

Missing Washington College student commits suicide

A troubled student whose disappearance prompted the weeklong closure of the Washington College campus in Maryland was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Saturday in Pennsylvania, police said.

Jacob Marberger, 19, was a sophomore at the small college in Chestertown on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The school was closed Monday after his parents reported that he had a gun and they were unable to reach him.

College officials initially planned to resume classes the next day, but after receiving new information from law enforcement, they opted to keep the campus closed until after the Thanksgiving break.

Marberger’s body was found Saturday afternoon at a picnic area at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Pa., according to state police, who said he fatally shot himself. The sport-utility vehicle he had been driving was found with him, police said.

Marberger had been wanted on four charges after authorities said he displayed an antique gun at his fraternity house last month. He was kicked out of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity last week, and on Sunday he resigned his position as speaker of the senate in the college’s student government.

Officials at the private liberal arts college, which has about 1,450 students, stressed that Marberger had not made any known threats to the campus or students. The decision to close was made amid heightened concerns about campus violence. Counselors will be on hand when classes resume on Nov. 30, college officials said in a statement.

“We extend our deepest sympathies to the Marberger family in their time of unimaginable grief,” the statement said. “This is a terrible blow to our community, and the outpouring of compassion and support we have shown each other will help us through this difficult time.”

The wild bird sanctuary where Marberger’s body was found is about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia. Marberger lived with his parents in the Philadelphia suburbs.